The Magic of 150: Why Your Culture Will Change (Whether You Plan for It or Not)
For a while, culture just happens. It’s the way people interact, the inside jokes, the rhythm of collaboration that feels almost effortless. You don’t need formal processes to build trust or reinforce values—it’s just there, embedded in how the team operates.
Then, you hit 150 people.
And suddenly, it’s not so effortless anymore.
That’s because 150 isn’t just a number—it’s a threshold.
The Science Behind 150: Dunbar’s Number
British anthropologist Robin Dunbar found that human beings can only maintain meaningful relationships with about 150 people at a time. It’s a limit shaped by our cognitive capacity—beyond that, relationships weaken. We can know more people, sure, but we can’t truly connect with them in the same way.
This concept has played out across human history. Hunter-gatherer tribes, military units, and early village societies all tend to cap out at around 150 before fragmenting or needing new structures to maintain cohesion.
And in business? The effect is just as real.
How Gore-Tex Designed for Connection
Bill Gore, the founder of Gore-Tex, understood this instinctively. He noticed that once a team grew beyond 150, things changed. The camaraderie weakened. Collaboration slowed down. It became harder to just know who to talk to when solving problems.
His solution? Never let teams grow beyond that threshold.
At Gore-Tex, buildings were designed to house no more than 150 people. When a team hit that number, they didn’t just add desks—they built an entirely new facility, creating intentional hubs of connection.
It worked. Gore-Tex maintained its innovative, close-knit culture despite significant growth, simply by designing the organization around human psychology.
The Problem: Most Companies Don’t Plan for 150
Most leaders don’t think about cultural inflection points. The focus is on revenue, hiring, scaling—but culture? That’s often assumed to just exist, rather than something that needs to be actively managed.
Then one day, they look around and realize:
❌ Employees feel disconnected.
❌ Decision-making slows down.
❌ “Us vs. Them” dynamics creep in.
❌ Culture starts feeling… corporate.
The “mom-and-pop” feel they loved? Gone.
And not because anyone intended to lose it—but because culture doesn’t scale on its own.
The Solution: Building Culture Beyond 150
If your company is approaching this threshold (or has already crossed it), it’s time to get intentional. Culture won’t just “happen” anymore—it has to be designed, reinforced, and operationalized.
Here’s where to start:
1️⃣ Create Connection Mechanisms
When teams were small, people naturally built relationships across departments. But as headcount grows, silos form. To counteract this, you need deliberate opportunities for connection.
✅ Cross-team projects: Give people a reason to collaborate beyond their immediate circle.
✅ Rituals that scale: Company-wide traditions that foster identity and belonging.
✅ Intentional space design: If remote, leverage structured virtual meetups. If in-person, rethink workspace layouts.
2️⃣ Clarify and Reinforce Your Values
At 50 people, values are often felt. At 150, they need to be explicit.
✅ Codify behaviors, not just words. “Integrity” means different things to different people—define what it looks like in action.
✅ Embed values into daily work. Make sure they guide decision-making, performance reviews, and promotions.
✅ Over-communicate. Just when you feel like you’re saying something too much—that’s when people are finally starting to hear it.
3️⃣ Decentralize Decision-Making
Growth brings hierarchy. Hierarchy slows things down. If every decision funnels up, you’ll suffocate the agility that made your company great in the first place.
✅ Empower middle managers. They are the cultural gatekeepers—invest in their ability to lead.
✅ Clarify ownership. Who gets to decide what? Make it clear and reduce bottlenecks.
✅ Encourage autonomy. Trust your people to make decisions, and they’ll rise to the occasion.
4️⃣ Measure and Adapt
Culture isn’t a one-time initiative. It evolves. You need a pulse on how it’s shifting.
✅ Employee feedback loops. Regular surveys and open dialogue to catch early signs of disconnection.
✅ Culture metrics. Engagement scores, retention, and internal mobility can reveal a lot.
✅ Leadership alignment. If leadership isn’t reinforcing culture, it won’t stick.
Culture Will Change. The Question Is How.
You can’t keep things exactly as they were at 50 employees. You can’t freeze culture in time.
But you can design a system that preserves the essence of what made your company great while allowing it to evolve.
Because after 150, culture isn’t something you just have.
It’s something you build.
Is your company nearing (or past) 150? What cultural shifts have you noticed? Let’s talk about how to make sure growth doesn’t mean losing what makes your company great.
